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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27863858">Devil May Cry</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpookyMoth/pseuds/SpookyMoth'>SpookyMoth</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angel/Demon Relationship, Devil, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Heaven &amp; Hell, angel - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 23:54:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,016</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27863858</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpookyMoth/pseuds/SpookyMoth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The never ending battle between heaven and hell comes to an unexpected end, and turns the order of good and evil upside down.</p><p>Immortaltily suddenly becomes a drag for Shikamaru after he met the most troulesome woman since the beginning of time.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Nara Shikamaru/Temari</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Devil May Cry</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/shikamarubase/gifts">shikamarubase</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This gift is for Ed for the Secret Santa exchange on the ShikaTemaShrine. </p><p>I hope you like how I tackled your prompt "ShikaTema as an angel and a devil"<br/>It was a pleasure writing this for you. &lt;3</p><p>Merry Christmas! ❤️</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The concept of time is a weird one, compared to the constant battle between good and evil, death and life, and love and hate. Time however has but one purpose: to offer humans a way to gauge their limited life span on this very earth.</p><p>And humans are odd creatures, being among the few even aware of their limited, fragile existence. Often obsessively so, living in constant fear of their inevitable end and return to nature's womb. And even those few fortunate enough to break the bonds of time, breaking the shackles of a limited existence still obsess over it in others. For humans, time is an inescapable constant.</p><p>His time, on the other hand, has no borders, no restrictions, no ends. Seldomly he thinks about the consequences of death. He would never experience such a mundane thing, free from the tiresome burden of being immortal. Being human more often strikes him to be the sole way of enjoying life to its fullest and for once - perhaps the fraction of a second - escaping into the world of living seems appealing.</p><p>Sighing he takes the last drag from his cigarette, inhales the smoke deep inside his lungs, feeling the nicotine making his brain dizzy, his blood rushing- full of euphoria - before he throws it on the ground. With a hiss the stub drowns in a puddle, the blaze instantly dying, just the stars reflecting in the depths of the water.</p><p>The neon sign above the “Heaven &amp; Hell” buzzes as he opens the door, the sound of laughter fills the room, the billow of cheap cigarettes and expensive cigars drifting through the ether of this hollow place; a place where demons and angels gather after their days work.</p><p>He nods, greeting his companions, diving deeper into the other world, to the real world he belongs and feels uncomfortable for the first time since his existence. This uneasy feeling nags him again, mocking him, calling him a coward; he knows that voice inside his head is right. He should make a decision. But first he needs a plan. He never works without a plan.</p><p>Most times he works alone in his field, planting a bit of insecurity and self hate inside a person's heart before he harvests the lost souls and brings the fruit of his efforts to his boss. Humans are so easy to manipulate. Bad feelings grew rampant without nurturing.</p><p>Lately, however, he feels a bit lonely. So it is a nice touch seeing Chouji sitting with Sai and Shino in front of a large display of food and even more drinks, knowing his friend is well and content with his life.</p><p>Continuing his way through the masses of people, calmness catches up with him. This is the place he seeks for, neither the alcohol, nor the pesterous air. At this place he doesn’t need to hide his true intentions, must not play nice or seduce people. He can just sit at the bar counter, pour down his drinks and enjoy the company.</p><p>He places himself on his favourite spot, orders his usual drink - a scotch - and lits another cigarette. It has been a tough day, mostly deskwork.</p><p>He remembers the old days. When he just could stand by and watch how two people shot with their guns, killing each other off and then he picks up their souls, while they bleed to death beneath his feet.</p><p>He is a demon for at least a thousand years now; or maybe longer. He has lost count.</p><p>Time is meaningless if you live forever. His thoughts are dancing around this more frequently, pressing him to make a decision. He has never considered to give up his life as it was, until her compelling smile has caught him off guard.</p><p>"Hey, stranger," says a familiar voice as he orders his second scotch.</p><p>He doesn’t want to turn around.</p><p>Since he knows her heaven and hell aren’t like before. He hates it with such a passion. They have contracts and arrangements, endless paperwork, even more rules and instructions to keep the powers in a balance.</p><p>She is the reason those damn contracts exist. It is her fault that his boss orders him around to write the reports and fill in requests for heaven. She has implanted the new system for exchange of forces, where angels and demons (or devils as they called themselves) could switch from one place to another within a set timespan.</p><p>"Leave me alone, woman," he answers, annoyed. "I'm not in the mood for smalltalk."</p><p>She orders a Long Island Ice Tea and crosses her legs, as she sits down on the bar stool next to him.</p><p>"Still pissed you are no longer able to talk people into harming themselves or each other?" she says and leans her head on her hand. "You know, we have lost so many good people because of your interventions. People who believed in their gods, prayed for a better harvest and visited church every Sunday."</p><p>"It was perfectly fine the way before," he answers and takes a sip from his glass. "But no, your brother took over the reins, and suddenly we don't want to disturb the balance."</p><p>The bartender puts the drink in front of her. She winks at him before she takes the slice of lemon to take a bit. Her eyes squint because of the sour taste.</p><p>"If you look at it this way, it is your friends fault."</p><p>He groans.</p><p>
  <em>How could he forget Naruto?</em>
</p><p>That idiot has started this whole mess.</p><p>He met Gaara somewhere on earth. Kindhearted and naive as Naruto was, he hasn’t thought that his new best friend could have ulterior motives.</p><p>Within the blink of an eye he sat in hell in front of Lady Tsunade and wanted to make contracts since he was now the new boss in heaven after his father had disappeared without a word. And to his own shook they had agreed on an arrangement.</p><p>The imprint of the day, when this troublesome woman, with her long legs and that smile has started to make his life hell, is still present in his head.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>It was a shady street corner. A place no one wants to be seen, because it belonged to a district with gamble, drugs and prostitution. The perfect spot for him.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He could blend in the mass of people, drinking and smoking, while he watched the fat cats of the drug business playing some rounds of poker.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The evening advanced and nothing had happened so far. He needed some entertainment. After all he had to bring a soul now and then to please his boss.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Today he wasn't lucky.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He put out his cigar and decided to do something. Just a small manipulation in the mind of that young, nervous newbee would be enough and they would start a fight. He knew all of them had hidden weapons in their suits.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>If you asked him he liked fist fights the most. He missed the times when people still were fencing. But it couldn't be helped. Times were changing.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He was almost at the poker table, when a blond woman stood in his way.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She wore a pinstriped two-piece. Under the jacket was a violet blouse, the first three buttons open, giving a view on her nice bust. Her feet were in stiletto heels, making her even more attractive.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Sorry, babe. I don't have time now. But if you have time later, we can have a drink."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He winked at her, sure she would fall for him. The woman snorted and crossed her arms.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"You're the dumbest demon I've ever seen."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He almost swallowed his tongue. Now that he looked at her, he saw her halo and the wings. She was an angel. The most beautiful angel he had ever laid eyes upon. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>He knew he was doomed.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"You're an angel," he gasped. "What are you doing here?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Bloody hell...why did he always get in big trouble without searching for it?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"You have enough sacrifices on your side already. Heard a guy named Sasuke had fun today," she answered and smirked. "So why don't you go home and come back tomorrow?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I could," he said, impressed by her guts to stop him. "But I don't want to."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I think I have other things to offer, Shikamaru."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"How do you know my name?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She grabbed his tie and pulled him closer, inches away from her face.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I did some research."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He swallowed hard. What did this woman do with him?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"And what's yours?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She dropped the tie. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Invite me to a drink and you may find out."</em>
</p><p> </p><p>He doesn’t know why people believe that angels are good and always have those nice intentions for everyone. He knows the dark side of heaven. That they just want to blackmail normal, innocent demons into contracts.</p><p>"Why are you here, Temari?"</p><p>She plays with the straw of her drink and grins. He puts out his cigarette, lightning the next one. She grabs it out of his hand and takes a drag.</p><p>He likes what he sees.</p><p>"Did you think about my proposal the other day?"</p><p>He snorts. Of course he had thought about it. She always is on his mind. He couldn't stop thinking about her since their first encounter.</p><p>She is all he ever wanted. He hasn’t searched for a woman. It isn’t usual for demons to live in a relationship because a break up made it awkward afterwards. Last time he witnessed the aftermath, when Ino and Kiba had ended their affair.</p><p>The poor man hasn’t had an easy life for the next two hundred years. Ino is specialised in revenge. She helps women to give their exes what they deserve; and she has had her revenge on Kiba.</p><p>At some point Shikamaru had to interfere and with the help of Choji talked some sense into Ino. Kiba now works in another department and does what he could do the best: breeding hellhounds.</p><p>"How could I not think about it? It's the only way we can be together," he responds and empties his glass. He takes back his cigarette, touching her fingers slightly, making sure she knows what is on his mind.</p><p>"You still could transfer to heaven."</p><p>He laughs shortly. Their discussion always dances around this topic, every time they meet.</p><p>"I like living in hell. You could become a demon."</p><p>She raises an eyebrow. "Never. I can't understand why you think it's funny that people do evil things."</p><p>"It's an easy life. Humans tend to be evil. They have more struggles to be good and believe in their gods. It's too troublesome taking them into doing the right thing."</p><p>She puts a hand on his knee and bows to him. Her lips almost touch his ear.</p><p>"You're such a lazy crybaby," she whispers. "But I like it."</p><p>He touches her arm, his finger slightly running down her smooth skin. He sees goosebumps appearing on her arm. Shikamaru loves seeing her like this, completely under his spell.</p><p>"What if I say yes?"</p><p>She looks into his eyes, biting her lips. He has to gather all strength to not kiss her immediately. They need a solution.</p><p>"I'll also sacrifice my immortality. We both become humans. But we can be together."</p><p>He craves for her lips, they always taste like strawberries and so divine.</p><p>"And your brothers?"</p><p>"Nah, they can do without me."</p><p>Her lips eventually catching his. He closes his eyes, gets lost in her sweet scent. She is the sin he is willing to accept, to devote his life to and worship her. He is sure she would laugh if she would read his thoughts this second.</p><p>He lets go of her, his forehead resting at hers. Her eyes combine the wild of an ocean and the ease of a forest.</p><p>The decision was easy with her looking at him.</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>Thus, the wheels of fate were set in motion and started ticking like a well maintained clock.</p><p>And time suddenly gained new meaning for him.</p><p><em>Time.</em>..what an odd concept.</p><p>And yet, all governing and omnipresent.</p>
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